Residents' Worries Prompt Town Home Plan Review

LUTZ - A proposal to build 18 town homes instead of professional offices on Livingston Avenue was sent back for review after residents said the project could turn into student housing.

Hillsborough County commissioners unanimously remanded the rezoning request on Tuesday, asking the hearing officer to consider the project's impact if it turns into rental units for students at the University of South Florida.

Residents along Livingston Avenue, who wore 'Save Livingston' stickers, said they opposed the rezoning, because if the town homes turn into student housing, it would bring a higher density and more traffic to the area.

Eleanor Cecil, a member of the Lutz Civic Association, said for the past two years a sign on the property has advertised town homes with four bedrooms and four bathrooms - a red flag for student housing.

'This is a really inappropriate use of that property, because of the high density and the traffic it will bring,' Cecil said. 'If you get 72 renters in 18 town homes, which is a possibility, the parking and the traffic - we just think it's going to be a real mess, and it really, really needs to be looked into more.'

The site is across the street from the Campus Lodge student housing apartments.

Steve Allison, a private planning consultant representing the property owners, said the town homes would be sold, not rented, and are an appropriate transition between the apartments and the single-family homes to the south and west.

The sign was not put there by the current owner, and the mix of units has not been determined yet, he said.

The town homes would be limited to three units per building and be laid out in a campus-style configuration, Allison said.

Property owners Dianne and Brian Ferwerda and Myles Savery want to rezone the 2.8-acre southwest corner of Sinclair Hills Road and Livingston from residential to planned development.

The change would convert the approved 1,500 square feet of professional offices into 18 town homes. The approved 3,500-square-foot dry cleaners on the north side would remain.

County commissioners approved the dry cleaners and office project in October 2006.

County traffic reviewer Charles White said the rezoning was reviewed as a traditional town home project, but if it were student housing, the traffic impact would be greater and the number of vehicle trips could easily double.

Barbara Fite, another nearby resident, said she gave her blessing to the offices but is against the proposed town homes, which she called a 'nightmare project.'

'It just does not really fit into the neighborhood,' she said.

Commissioners agreed and sent the request to a zoning hearing on Oct. 30.

'From my perspective, there's a lot of common sense to be applied here,' said Commission chairman Jim Norman. 'I'm sitting here thinking it's student housing, and the citizens are right.'